Swimmer goes the distance across Lake Pontchartrain

A man accomplished an amazing feat Thursday afternoon, completing a swim from the Southshore to the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain in just under 15 hours. The distance is about three miles longer than the English Channel in the Atlantic Ocean.

After swimming 25 miles in nearly 15 hours, Matt Moseley crawled ashore to a crowd of cheering and adoring fans and supporters. He topped it off with a bottle of champagne, but by the end Moseley was filled with joy, pride and fatigue.

"I'm really tired, I'm hungry, my feet hurt," he said as a crowd moved in to congratulate him.

Moseley started the distance solo swim across Lake Pontchartrain at 9 p.m. Wednesday. It celebrates the lake and the 25th anniversary of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

"Matt's a great professional swimmer, and this is a challenge he wanted to take on and commemorate LPBF anniversary but also the health of Lake Pontchartrain and the cause of saving our coast," explained LPBF Executive Director John Lopez.

Moseley dove into the lake at the Southshore's new canal lighthouse and started his trek across to the boat launch in Mandeville, taking breaks along the way but never getting out of the water.

There were many estimates on how long it would take the 47-year-old to finish the journey. Some believed he would complete it in 14 hours, by 11 a.m. Thursday. Others figured if he took longer than 15 hours, his chances of finishing were slim. Moseley swam ashore around 12 p.m. Thursday, just shy of the 15 hours.

"This spot didn't seem to come for hours and hours and hours even though I saw it," Moseley said to a field of reporters. "I even had to stop and ask, 'are we in a current that's not letting us come in because we're not moving anywhere.'"

His trainer and guide Randy Soler rode a kayak beside him the entire route and said they trained six months for the moment.

"It was very hard times, some emotional times. Sometimes you could not think about anything, very emotional, very spiritual," Soler said. "I'm so, so extremely happy about his goal and he did it."

After finishing the daring adventure, Moseley he rested on the party boat that accompanied on the journey, had a Coke and celebrated the victory. Soler said he'd never gone such a distance. The furthest swim came last Friday, 15 miles in a pool.

Moseley was swimming under English Channel rules, so his team of coaches and trainers were not allowed to touch him while he was in the water, and no one could shake his hand until he was completely out of the lake.

Copyright 2014 byWDSU.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.

Coaches were more vocal and aggressive with players as training camp pushes ahead full steam. Players clashed with one another in several hard hits and tackles, indicating that ferocity was the name of the game.

"Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" opened to an estimated $56 million at the U.S. box office over the weekend. This total was the second-best "Mission: Impossible" opening ever, just missing out on the $57.8 mil...